snow no one has written your destiny for you. your destiny is in your hands. you cannot forget that. that's what we have to teach all of our children. no excuses. >> that was quite a speech before the naacp right here in new york city. president barack obama. we'll play more of that for you coming up in news. welcome to "morning joe." 6:00 on the east coast. i'm mika brzezinski. joe scarborough is off. willie is here and mike barnicle

joins us as well. a lot going on. we're going to play more from the president's speech. vice president biden, when i go shopping and my husband says why are you buying more clothes? you don't need any more clothes. i say, honey, you have to spend money to make money. we love joe. >> he's one of us. >> wow. we're going to play it. he seems to think -- >> if we don't spend more money, we will go bankrupt. that's what joe says. >> i need to go shopping. or i'm going to go bankrupt. >> i understand the concept. >> you do? you can explain it? i appreciate that. look at this picture on the front page of "the washington post," guys. job fair. >> wow. >> 600,000 people showed up. so let's hope joe biden has some real substance behind the ideas in terms of inspiring the economy. let's get to news.

oh, and on sarah palin, it's like a cartoon. it really is. but let's get to some breaking news that we'll start our top stories with today. out of southeast asia, a four-year low in terror attacks in indonesia ended this morning with bombings on a pair of luxury hotels. the near simultaneous explosions left at least eight people dead and dozens more injured. nbc's ian williams is live in bangkok, thailand, with the very latest this morning. ian, what can you tell us? >> reporter: good morning, mika. we well, that death toll still stands at nine and we're told there were dozens injured. among the injured are 18 foreigners, several of them americans though we have no more details at the moment. now these hotels were under intense security. security has been very tight for some years in jakarta. and police are speculating that the bombers may, in fact, have been guests and smuggled the devices in through that tight security. the president in indonesia gave an address this morning in which

he said this was terrorism but he was reluctant to point the finger of blame. he was clearly very upset because indonesia has done well to keep this at bay for these years. now suspicion will fall on the region of al qaeda. they were very, very powerful in the early years of this decade. several major bombings at the marriott, bali, be you'll recall, the australian embassy. but the authorities, the anti-terror police, have done a very good job to decapitate them. they've killed and captured a lot of the leaders and splintered the organization. today was a very clear sign that certainly terrorism had not been eradicated from indonesia and potentially this group, because suspicion will fall on them, is potentially still very dangerous, mika. >> all right. nbc's ian williams. we'll be back with you reporting live from indonesia. thank you very much from bangkok, thailand. pope benedict xvi is

recovering from a fractured wrist after slipping in the bath this morning. the fall happened during the pontiff's vacation in the alps. according to the vatican there's no cause for concern about the 82-year-old's health. judge sonia sotomayor appears to be a lock for the supreme court after withstanding days of grilling with no major gaffes. on thursday the senate panel heard from two new haven firefighters whose reverse discrimination lawsuit became central to the hearings. >> do you have any reason to think that judge sotomayor acted in anything other than good faith in trying to reach a good decision in the case? >> that's beyond my legal expertise. i'm not an attorney or a legal scholar. i simply welcome an invitation by the united states senate to come here today and -- because this is our first time we've gotten to testify about our story, so i can't comment on --

>> although her ruling against the firefighters was later overturned by the high court, sotomayor will likely be confirmed before the senate's august break. barnicle? >> it was a good thing they got to tell this story. >> i agree. >> they were not testifying against judge sotomayor's nomination to the supreme court. they were just telling their story. i think it was a really good thing to hear the story and for the senators to hear the story and for the rest of the country to hear portions of the story in the clips that we play. >> it's enlightening and i spent -- i was a new haven bureau chief years ago and, you know, these are the types of stories that really kind of give us a sense where society is going and there are problems along the way. i actually still don't understand her decision on that. very short decision that was written and i still don't get it. i don't get it. i don't think it changes her fate here. >> it doesn't. i sort of understand it. i don't get it.

obviously we're not lawyers. but basically what she and the rest of the appeals court did was just reaffirm an existing agency, the city of new haven's decision. they didn't try to make new law. they reaffirmed what new haven said they wanted to do. >> all right. president obama is calling on the nation's black community to seize their own destiny while at the same time acknowledging racial prejudice persists today. in his speech honoring the naacp's 100th convention, president obama made his most direct appeal to parents. >> for our kids' sake we have to accept the responsibility to help them learn. that means putting away the xbox, putting our kids to bed at a reasonable hour. it means attending those parent/teacher conferences and reading to our children and helping them with their homework. >> that's good. >> what was interesting about that speech last night is he was

for the first time as president part preacher/part president and really resonated -- >> it's outside of the confines of the white house and it gets -- and i was sitting in bed trying to study and read and watch the speech and i sat up and got very energized by it. it was exciting. >> the race speech he gave last year where he said you're not going to be a rapper, you're not going to play in the nba. get real. >> simple. >> the same thing he said yesterday. lawmakers made a sweeping reform for health care, the congressional budget office says it will only drive the nation further into debt. he says, quote -- okay, guys, listen up -- in the legislation that has been reported we do not see the sort of fundamental changes that would be necessary to reduce the trajectory of federal health spending by a significant amount and on the contrary the legislation significantly expands the federal responsibility for health care costs. we need to talk about this.

>> it's interesting, it's the front page above the fold in "the washington post" and "the wall street journal," a very important story. >> it is. >> it's nowhere to be found on the front page of "the new york times," which is rather an interesting decision because this is a shot at the democratic consensus majority that the president enjoys on health care. i wouldn't imagine there will be several moderate senators who look at this in the house of representatives saying, you know what, we can't afford the way this thing has drawn up now. the way it's drawn up now, we cannot afford it. >> certainly there are ways that health care can be reformed that would ultimately save us money but maybe not in the plan. first of all, it's over 1,000 pages. are we going to have another situation where things are voted for and pushed through and people have not actually read it and then ultimately it doesn't really do what we thought it would. it doesn't stop the catastrophe. >> right. >> i'm just say iing. we've got to ask the questions. and finally nasa says it's not worried about the space shuttle

"endeavour" which suffered only minor damage when it was struck by debris shortly after liftoff. meanwhile, just in time for the 48th anniversary of the apollo 11 mission, nasa has released newly restored footage of the original lunar landing. and on monday we'll be joined by three retired astronauts, all of them have stepped foot on the moon. >> buzz aldrin will be here monday. >> that's so cool. he has a book coming out. >> i wouldn't miss that, my friend. >> barnicle, are you coming? i would change your plans. i'm serious. i would. it's going to be a good show. >> i don't doubt that. >> okay. well, i'm just saying it's kind of exciting. you might want to show up. let's go to bill karins now for a check of the forecast. good morning. good morning. you know why it will be a good show? >> why? >> my brother is about to make his debut on "morning joe." he gave me the call yesterday afternoon. you won't believe the size of the hail falling in my front yard. i said if you want to be on tv,

take a picture of it. this is his car getting dents all over it. this is albany, new york. this was yesterday afternoon. and so i said you have to do the land model thing where you have to put the hand out, the ball of hail. a good looking hand. he could be a hand model. nice hand. >> okay. >> i don't know where his wedding ring is. >> i was wondering about that. i guess he's not married. >> he is. >> let's talk a little bit -- >> i think it was the other hand. a lot calmer today up there in new england han yesterday. we are going to watch clear skies for the most part. and today should be the warmest day of the summer. you'll feel it this morning. there's a little bit of humidity and warmth out there. later today in new york city, we should be near 90 degrees for the first time this year. the warmest temperature so far this summer was only 84. even boston is going to see the warmest day of the summer. washington, d.c., maybe a chance of a thunderstorm late in the day but the daylight hours should be dry. the rest of the country, finally the heat wave broken in dallas. today -- i say only -- 97 but that breaks your string of eight

or nine days in a row of 100-degree heat. look at chicago. only 71 today. you won't even break 75 all weekend. so it will be a really cool and almost fall like feeling over the upcoming weekend in the great lakes. our friends out west are up in the middle of the night. another hot day for you. >> all right. bill, thanks very much. thanks to your brother. time for our top talkers. willie, joe biden. >> let's talk joe biden. do you know when you go to las vegas, you're playing blackjack, you have to bet big to win big, right? >> exactly right. >> it turns out the blackjack philosophy applies to our nation's economy. listen to joe biden speaking in front of the aarp yesterday. >> the president and i know the status quo is simply not acceptable. it's totally unacceptable and completely unsustainable. even if we wanted to keep this the way we have, we can't do it

financially. we're going to go bankrupt as a nation. now, people when i say that look at me and say, what are you talking about? you're saying we have to spend the money or we'll go bankrupt? the answer is yes. i'm telling you. >> exactly right. >> go ahead. >> he's a noted economist. >> briefly explain. >> the stimulus package, we have to keep spending this money to put people back to work because it's all about jobs, jobs, jobs. the more federal stimulus money that we spend, the faster we spend it, perhaps the more public works project will get going, more people will go back on the employment rolls. >> he said unemployment would go higher. where are the jobs? >> the unemployment rate will go higher and then it will start to recede. that's the way it goes, mika. what goes up will come down but it will come down only when you start spending the stimulus money as rapidly as possible. as the vice president indicated.

we love the vice president. >> we love him. >> we love him. >> spend money and keep raising taxes and that will get us out of this? is that the idea? >> they'd better not do both. >> they are. >> i didn't do that well with economics but that to me doesn't sound like a workable project. we have some interesting op-eds on this concept as well. and coming up -- i'm not atta attacking you but perhaps joe biden's concept might need to be, and just a disclaimer, we love joe biden on this show. >> okay. >> but there's concern. we're going to have experts analyze it. willie, anything else we can do before the break? i know we have so much to get to. >> i'm going to play for you jesse ventura about sarah palin. i'm going to make you wait because it's so good. a rambling attack on sarah palin. you're not going to like sarah palin. >> that's good. that's good. there's nothing like a rambling -- >> yeah. >> it is. >> okay. we'll get to that.

it's worth it actually. >> one more time. >> you're not going to like sarah palin. coming up, it's when joe does it it's awful, too. "the wall street journal's" peggy noonan will come here to raise the bar. she has a new column this morning. we'll talk with steny hoyer, "washington post" columnist and pulitzer prize winner eugene robinson will be joining us. the moderator of "meet the press" david gregory will be here. and alfre woodard, nelson mandela's 91st birthday. and a look at the story politico is working on this morning. could someone toss me

an eleven sixteenths wrench over here? here you go. eleven sixteenths... (announcer) from designing some of the world's cleanest and most fuel-efficient jet engines... to building more wind turbines than anyone in the country... the people of ge are working together... creating innovation today for america's tomorrow. thanks! no problem! with special savings on select fabrics on all frames you choose the fabric we custom make it it's more affordable than you think. ethan allen offer ends july 31st.

has the fastest serve in the history of professional tennis. so i've come to this court to challenge his speed. ...on the internet. i'll be using the 3g at&t laptopconnect card. he won't. so i can book travel plans faster, check my account balances faster. all on the go. i'm bill kurtis and i'm faster than andy roddick. (announcer) "switch to the nations fastest 3g network"

you would think they would get her off guard. well, to me in observing the questioning it looks like the questions have gotten harder. would you agree with that, paul? it looks like now we're close to the interrogation or the examination or the discussion, looks like the questions have actually gotten a little tougher. watch. >> okay, judge sotomayor, for the lifetime appointment to the supreme court, here's your final question. for what television series did raymond burr win two emmy awards? >> perry mason. >> that's correct. thanks for watching the supreme court confirmation hearings. >> i didn't see that part. >> remarkable. we'll have much more on the

sotomayor hearings coming up. here with us now executive director for politico jim vandehei. good morning, jim. >> i'm taking that informal look you have perfected on set. >> at least you have the respect for our viewers to wear jackets, jim. we'll give you a pass since it's friday. let's get to the politico playbook from politico.com. number one, right-wing bribe. explain that one. >> this is an amazing one mike allen has and we just posted this morning. it is a huge and powerful illustration for the pay for play mentality in washington. the american conservative union, one of the largest conservative groups in washington and in the country, offered to federal express to intervene and endorse their position in a dispute fedex is having with ups for $2 million to $3 million. when they said no the conservative union came out for u.p.s. in the debate. and we have a copy of the letter

and we've posteded online. very rarely do you get this much of a glimpse at how washington works and the ideological principles. those principles sometimes appear to be for sale. >> how common is this, jim, not only from the right but left-wing groups? >> it's not common that you ever discover it. i've been reporting for about 15 years and i've often heard of it and tried to track it down. because these groups operate often as not for profits you can get access to where they get their money and spend their money, so it's hard to prove. this is one of the first instances i can think of where you can actually prove what's been going on and what people think is going on. >> so, jim, what happened is the american conservative union went to fedex and said for "x" amount of dollars we will help you and we will endorse the position you have on this particular piece of legislation? freddie smith and fedex says no -- >> right. >> and then they go brown, they take it to u.p.s. and pitch the same deal? >> i don't know if they pitch the same deal. all we know when fedex said no,

two weeks later, they supported u.p.s. in the debate and obviously u.p.s. and fedex have very different views on this. i don't know what happened with u.p.s. but that seems like something everyone should be looking into. since they made the same offer to fedex and they offered -- listen, if we endorse this, the head of our group, he happens to have a column in a newspaper in washington and it will be out there. we'll be writing in support of your position. >> that's a good story. >> and you can read that at politico. the full story is there, their lead story right now. let's talk health care, jim. a tough week for democrats especially today, the front page of "the wall street journal" and other papers saying budget blow for health plan, the cbo says this will cost us unsustainable amounts of money. jim, how are democrats dealing with all of this? >> not well. it's been a bad, bad week for democrats and i think for their effort to get health care reform, like you said, the cbo which basically tells you how much things are going to cost once they're enacted says the

house bill won't cut savings which has been the whole purpose of this health care reform debate or one of the big purposes since the beginning. it will actually increase them. on the senate side max baucus trying to get a bipartisan deal thought he had one in hand and then it turns out he's not going to be able to meet obama's deadline of getting one this week and you have owe limp yeah snowe and moderate republicans saying, wait a minute, why are we rushing at all, why do we need to get this done this year? you have house democrats saying we don't even like our leadership's bill and you have moderate democrats saying there's no way we're going to go for big tax increases and a big expansion he especially if it's increasing the cost of health care. it doesn't mean health care is dead but this is a big setback and it comes after a series of setbacks for democrats trying to get a bill that will appease what president obama wants, to be able to get through congress this year. >> you may get a watered down version of this bill. we'll keep an eye on that. finally, president obama's drink of choice when he's out having a

couple of cocktails, what does he drink? there are a couple alarming ones in here. go ahead. >> a couple alarming ones. it seems he has eclectic taste buds when it comes to booze. he likes wine, martinis, i think sparkling wine and margaritas. >> not sparkling wine. >> he's cooler than that. >> michelle obama seems on one of their dates had two martinis i believe straight-up which i think is pretty cool. they both ordered martini's but according to the chef they did not finish them. >> wow. >> okay. >> sparkling wine. if we could cross sparkling wine often the list. >> i wonder what he'd drink if he started going to nationals games. >> well, he went to a wizards game and had a beer. >> but they're okay. the nationals, they're really bad. >> all right, jim. >> jim, thank you. good luck finding the sports coat you couldn't find. a quick look at morning papers.

"the wall street journal" as we were talking about, budget blow for health plan, the chief of the congressional budget office says democrats' proposal lacks necessary controls on 0 spending. that's a huge story. "the washington post," senate republicans won't block the vote on sotomayor. she should sail through. "the new york times," two giants emerge from the ruins on wall street. goldman and jpmorgan capitalize on frail competitors. more earnings today, mike, bank of america, where your wife works, and citigroup. >> ah. >> front page photo on the "l.a. times" shows the aftermath of those deadly bombings of two jakarta hotels. >> we'll follow the story which is still breaking this morning. up next, a first look at business live from london. also, the must-read opinion pages. we'll be right back with more "morning joe." ( conversation )

garth, you're up. hold on, i'm at capitalone.com picking a photo... for my credit card. here's one from my prom. oh, what memories. how 'bout one from our golf outing? ( shouting ) i know, maybe one of my first-born son. dad, mom says the boys gotta go. personalize your card by uploading... your own photo at capitalone.com. what's in your wallet? ♪ ...is to create it. [ female announcer ] discover the power to create a new future for your skin.

only aveeno positively radiant moisturizer has total soy, combining the best of nature with the proof of science for a whole new level of radiance. it's clinically proven to visibly reduce blotchiness, brown spots and other past damage while breakthrough spf 30 helps prevent future damage. healthier, more radiant skin. it's in your future now. [ female announcer ] positively radiant. the beauty of nature and science. only from aveeno. thif you wanna tell it. who to call, just say, "call dave taylor."

calling dave taylor mobile. and if you wanna tell it what to play, just say, "play songs by jack johnson." playing songs by jack johnson. ♪ voice control. on the iphone 3gs, the most powerful iphone yet. to redefine air travel for a new generation.

to ensure our forces are safer and stronger. to take the world we share to tomorrow and beyond. announcer: around the globe, the people of boeing are working together-- to make a difference. that's why we're here.

welcome back to "morning joe." i have no idea what that is but it looks beautiful. it is lovely. before the opening bell of wall street, look at new june housing starts. it has settled since its highest level since october. live in fr london with more, louisa. >> reporter: hey, it's amazing when you look at nasdaq seeing the highest level since october. a 20% rise on nasdaq since the beginning of this year. real outperformance in the tech sector and we've seen a lot of buying. not quite the google numbers but ibm led to some buying in the u.s., your part of the world in after hours trade. the sectors we're looking at here in europe today were relatively flat to the down side on the worst performing sectors. we are seeing more of an outperformance. basic resources and financial services pulling higher and of

course we are seeing those big numbers from citigroup, bank of america and general electric. it doos seem that we're kind of going to be determining whether we will continue on this five-day rally we've had so far, if we count today, to see whether or not that continues depending on what the numbers say. a lot of the numbers come down hard on jpmorgan in yesterday's session indicating that the earnings we've seen it's just not good enough in comparison to what we had out from goldman sachs though they were pleasing. i would say let's not pour too much cold water on jpmorgan. they still managed to reduce their reserves considerably. we are in the middle of a recession. there are worries regarding the credit quality of their loans, for example, but you're still looking at a period where the economy supposedly could be looking at an uptick due to inventory being downtrodden. we're looking at the upside. back to you. >> i knew you'd find the word.

thanks so much. have a good weekend. >> reporter: i will as soon as i hang up. >> thanks. mika has the news. witnesses in iran say police have detained at least 15 people during a new flare-up of unrest outside tehran university. according to reports police useded tear gas and batons to break up supporters of mir hossein mousavi. other reformist jails in the post election crackdown. explosions ripped through two luxury hotels in jakarta killing eight people and wounding at least 50 others. more than a dozen foreigners are among the victims, the first major terror strike in nearly four years. and pope benedict xvi has been hospitalized in northern italy this morning after fracturing his wrist. vatican officials say the upon 0 ti pontiff slipped and fell. another quick check on the weather with -- i was going to

say -- al roker. that's bill karins. >> look at that map. it's a beauty. showers and thunderstorms in the mid-atlantic states and heavy showers and thunderstorms down in new orleans. >> what's going on here? >> well, i have no idea. >> what show is this? >> out west, hot. we're talking record setting temperatures. 87 in seattle today. >> come on over here. >> hot out. >> toasty. >> what show is this? >> i have no idea. you know what, i came over here to shamelessly plug a new program that will be competing against "morning joe." >> great. >> starting on monday on the weather channel, "wake up with "". >> doesn't willie -- >> you have a show at 5:30. >> a lot of people say mine is a lead-in to "morning joe." i think it's "wake up with al." >> we want people to get multiple televisions. kind of like here at msnbc where you can watch "morning joe," "wake up with al" or --

>> it is competing. what are you doing here? >> why don't you tell us more about how you're going to screw us out of -- >> my career -- >> pretty nice, too. look like popeye, that's the problem. our show is kind of like a weather version of the "today" show. we'll have news with msnbc updates to further cannibalize your office and business updates with cnbc and all kinds of weather hosts. my co-host is stephanie abrams, a ball of fire. she's terrific. we're going to have a fabulous time. we don't have a coffee sponsorship. if dunkin' is watching or tim horton's, come onboard. >> that's good. >> that's a good cup of joe. >> oh, yeah. awake now. >> cnn's "american morning" or fox and friends maybe?

>> they're all part of the networks of nbc. as long as somebody is watching one of our networks, we win. if one of us wins, we all win. >> what's the concept of the show "wake up with al"? what are you going to be doing? >> it will be basically we're going to do celebrity wake-up calls and real wake-up calls. we're calling people whether they like it or not. >> oh, that's hilarious. >> why are we encouraging this? >> i don't know. i'm not going to participate any further. >> we're going to do a take it or leave it. should you take your umbrella or leave it. >> the same stuff as willie is doing. >> you just stole my show. >> when does your show start? >> a week from monday. >> good! i get a running head start. >> what's nbc doing? i'm confused. all the children are fighting. >> they're waking al up earlier. >> the thing is i'm not -- it's probably like you. you are already here. i'm already up. i'm just going to put my pants on a little earlier, which is a good thing.

>> thank god. >> for people to watch and not run away in abject horror. >> i love it, "wake up with al." this is fun. >> i should have put in my iced coffee order. >> you should have. >> you sort of did when you said how about dunkin'. >> that's not helpful, al. >> you guys already got starbucks. what the heck, you know? we're trying to all help the family. >> you're a troublemaker. >> i am. since when did you not know that. >> i knew that. >> a rising tide will sell boats. >> unless you're in the water. >> willie, with a new show starting in a week, take us to the tease. >> al roker with the morning channel. >> why are we doing this? >> and be sure to tune into fox and friends as well. up next, john horowicz joins the conversation. we're getting rid of al. >> what about cnbc? what about that? >> the must-read opinion pages from mika brzezinski.

♪ mom: i can't go to class with him. mom vo: i can't do his history report for him. mom vo: or show the teachers how curious he is. that's his job. mom vo: my job is to give him everything he needs to succeed, while staying within a budget. mom: that's why i go to walmart. son: and that's how the constitution helped shape america... mom: i love my job. vo: find all the brands those other stores have but for low walmart prices, like dell, hp and toshiba. vo: save money. live better. walmart.

right now, all over the country, discover card customers are getting 5% cashback bonus at the pump. now more than ever, it pays to discover.

let me put it to you this way, larry, and by not being sexist, she could never make it as a frogman or a navy s.e.a.l. because if you utter the words in basic underwater training, i quit, you're gone. i don't remember one person in my class that quit. i remember every person i graduated with. it offends me over the fact she told the people of alaska she wanted to be their governor and she wanted -- and that's a

four-year commitment and now right in the middle she quits. well, if she's got plans of running for higher office, i would never vote for her because if it gets too hot in the kitchen, she's liable to quit. >> okay. >> wow. >> where do we start with that, willie? >> trying to be a navy s.e.a.l. >> or frogman. >> hulk hogan lost to him and then al franken. >> oh, no. you gave me perspective there. that's bad. what's the basis of getting ventura's opinion? i don't understand. >> i guess as former governor, he knows what it means to run a state. >> okay. >> he's a former wrestler. i think he beat santana for the intercontinental champion. >> you sound like i did when i said we have to spend money to get it. >> it's not fake? >> oh, it's fake. it's fake. >> and they're wearing the funny

outfits? got it. >> boas. the body. never make it as the frogman. she's not trying to be the frogman. let's just move on, shall we? it's like watching a car accident. chief washington correspondent and political writer for "the new york times," john harwood. good to see you, john. >> good morning, mika. do you want to be a frogman? >> i have no intention of being a frogman. but thanks for asking. >> by the way, mike, mike barnicle, i heard from espn about the possibility of a 5:30 a.m. show. are you in? >> i'm doing it. yeah, i'm doing it. >> are you mocking the hour of my show? >> it's called "tenth inning." >> wake up with mike. >> "tenth inning." we start from monday opposite willie and al roker. >> you laugh, har a wood, but you're the first guest. i'll see you at 5:36. >> we'll analyze all the west coast games, john. >> my goodness. we have a couple of good op-eds

here and a real issue about this health care bill. "the wall street journal" a reckless congress. democrats want to ram through one of the greatest raids on private income and business in american history. say this about the 1,018-page health care bill that house democrats unveiled this week and that president obama heartily endorsed. it finally reveals at least some of the price of the reckless ambitions of our current government trying to outrun the popularity of his agenda, democrats are bidding to impose an unrepealable european style welfare state in a matter of weeks. mr. obama's february budget provided the outline but the house bill now fills in the details. to wit, tax increase that is would take u.s. rates higher even than most of europe. mike barnicle, i mean, "the washington post" story this morning backs it up. >> front page of "the wall

street journal." john harwood, yesterday the director of the congressional budget office sort of an independent player in this basically says what's on the table in the house is unaffordable. it's going to cost an ast astronomical amount to the deficit. what does this do to the mood of those in the house and senate in regard to president obama's larger than life expectations here? >> i think, mike, it emboldens those moderates within the democratic party to push for changes in the bill in both chambers and it certainly gives a lot of ammunition to conservatives. it's a complicated judgment. i talked to cbo yesterday. i think their view is that the critique wasn't quite as devastating as some people have portrayed it. there are two different issues. one is, is the health care bill itself paid for? does it add to the deficit based on its own parameters? do you have enough to pay for the expanded coverage?

the second issue is do you bend the cost curve in the long run? that's about the entire system and some of the things in these bills that democrats believe will affect the cost curve can't be evaluated or scored by cbo because they haven't been tried before but it does make the democratic task more complicated to try to get something through both chambers. >> what is it about the health bill, any of you, that we know will bring money back into the system, that we know will cut health care costs and do the things that we've all been complaining about in terms of the health care system and it's hemorrhaging money? mike? john? either one. >> a couple of things. first of all, to pay for the bills, of course the democrats in the house are proposing tax increases on the rich. the administration and democrats are proposing to cut payments to some providers, to some pharmaceutical companies to finance the expanded coverage they're talking about. as for changing the cost curve in the long run, what they're hoping is system reforms that

are going to be led by the federal government, the department of health and human services to try to change the incentives for unlimited fee for service care are going to work but, again, those things -- it's a little soft in the evaluation of them is a little soft and it's hard to say. the administration is also putting a lot of hope, mika, in what they call the provision which jay rockefeller is pushing in the senate. that is to create an elective commission like the base closings commission for military bases that will be empowered to make decisions about what medicare pays for and doesn't pay for and if they can put real teeth into that provision, that could have some effect. >> okay. >> john, can you explain one of the provisions that's been discussed that seems to be often the table top sort of is the taxable income that has been derived from taxing the health benefits? max butaucus is in favor of taxg

them. the president is opposed to it. can you explain that? >> i have to tell you i do not understand why the white house has not moved on that more aggressively. this is something that health experts believe will, in fact, bend the cost curve and also pay for your program. the administration has sent signals at various points it is open to that but that somehow has not made it to the center of the table in these negotiations. i think the story is not fully written on that but it's a tough issue. >> also over 1,000 pages and i want to know how it can be read in time to be voted on. >> you didn't read it last night? >> what's that? >> you didn't read it last night? >> i tried but i was watching the president's speech. >> do your homework. >> john harwood -- we're trying. >> we're going to read the entire thing on "tenth inning" which begins a week from monday. >> oh, right on another nbc station. >> willie's worried about that show. >> stay with us, coming up in a few minutes "the wall street journal's" peggy noonan. we're going to actually read a piece of her editorial that i didn't get to. but first we've got sports with

such a talent, willie geist has sports when we come back.

you have questions. who can give you the financial advice you need? where will you find the stability and resources to keep you ahead of this rapidly evolving world? these are tough questions. that's why we brought together two of the most powerful names in the industry. introducing morgan stanley smith barney. here to rethink wealth management. here to answer... your questions. morgan stanley smith barney. a new wealth management firm with over 130 years of experience.

live pictures of new york city. >> william geist. >> tom watson. >> he's my guy. 83 years old. >> close. close. >> 65 the other day. >> yesterday's opening round tom watson shocking the field. he's won the british open five times. the last one in 1983. this birdie put him at 4 under on 12. a 5 under 65. tied for second. tiger not a great day for him. the world's number one player just couldn't get it going. hits the water on 16. one of his four bogeys. he's six shots back in the second round under way right now. your leader at 7 under. >> what's the most amazing thing about those pictures from scotland and the sun's out. the sun is out. >> there he is. let's go to the tour de france keeping it in europe.

lance armstrong remains in third place, eight seconds off the lead looking for number eight. >> all over. eight seconds. >> aficionado. baseball now, manny ramirez making his home debut after serving a 50-game suspension but manny not being manny, he struck out twice. kind of a nonfactor. the solo shot to center giving houston a 1-0 lead. foiled manny's return. 3-0. the astros won five of their last six. >> have you been to dodger stadium? >> i never have. >> i want to go. we should do the show here. >> you can throw out the first pitch there as well. >> do you think i can? >> of course. >> if we could only get the schedule. >> delighted to have you throw out the first pitch. >> barnicle knows everybody. >> can you say that truly? >> the mets facing the braves, perez deep to left. his eighth of the year in atlanta. a 1-0 lead. how about the very next batter

garret anderson with a home run of his own. perez floats one in there. back-to-back home runs for the braves. they beat the mets 5-3 in a little place i like to call hot-lanta. the phillies' ryan howard hit his 200th career home run. why is that historic? he reached that 200th home run milestone in fewer games than anyone in major league history. pretty impressive. >> steiner and gonzalez two and three. >> the phillies beat the marlins 4-0. look who is back in the states. after playing five months with milan, david beckham made his return to the mls last night. >> a huge, overrated move. >> that's just not nice. >> beckham did not score but the galaxy did do something they hadn't done much of without beckham, they won. landon donovan, a guy who ripped beckham in a new book, scored

the game-winner. galaxy over the red bulls. the soccer team called the red bulls. >> can we do that dodger thing? i'd like to. >> barnicle can make anything happen. up next, the reform of week in review. >> is this like "the new york times"? >> the week in review. i'm not going to give you a hint. you have to watch.

we know why we're here. to build a new generation of airplanes to connect the world. airplanes that fly cleaner and farther on less fuel.

and make nonstop travel possible to more places. announcer: around the globe, the people of boeing are working together-- to bring us together. that's why we're here.

oh, is it time? let me get off my blackberry. >> the week in review begins with a man separated from his beloved teleprompter. >> the economy -- oh, goodness. >> at number three, the president loses his wing man. >> the president's teleprompter is broke. what will he do then? >> one of the two teleprompter screens president obama was using during a speech monday fell from its stand and smashed on the floor. >> oh, goodness. sorry about that, guys. >> the commander in chief set an example for all americans when he courageously plowed forward and finished the job with only one teleprompter screen. the next day president obama traveled to st. louis for major league baseball's all-star game where he threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

it was not the most impressive first pitch ever thrown but it was better than his bowling. and certainly better than this pitch by mariah carey. and this one by olympic channmpn carl lewis. and this one by cincinnati mayor malary. >> waiting for it -- >> that's one of the worst opening pitches i've ever seen. >> chasing the olympic dream. we learned this week that a tae kwon do champion in new zealand is reaching for olympic gold with a little help from his hookers. >> we love you long time. >> logan campbell need add creative way to raise money for the tae kwon do training he hopes will send him to the 2012

summer games in london so dewhat any right thinking person would do, he opened a brothel and became a pimp. campbell says he's not a pimp just a manager of a high-end gentleman's club. i say he's the embodiment of the olympic spirit plus the giant gold medal will look impressive on a real-life pimp. and the number one story of the week -- >> unless you have a complete meltdown you're going to get confirmed. >> with judge sotomayor's confirmation to the supreme court a foregone conclusion, this week's hearing focused mainly on the hot button issue of baseball. >> the supreme court justices are much more than umpires calling balls and strikes. >> lake an umpire calling balls and strikes. >> no balls and no strikes. >> balls and strikes. >> balls and strikes. >> balls and strikes. >> balls and strikes. >> did you have a chance to watch the all-star game last night? >> as the hearings dragged into

thursday and sotomayor was fitted for her robe, the members much of the senate got bored and just started calling in their baseball heroes. pitching great david cone, you have the floor. >> some have said judge sotomayor saved baseball. >> despite praise from the crafty right-hander david cone and an academic record that includes honors from princeton, judge sotomayor was unable to impress everyone with her credentials. >> make the law review are qualified. oh, pat, come on. >> that lady up there with scalia? come on. >> i don't know one person. right at the top of the hour, one more sound bite from yesterday. >> from where? >> from sotomayor's hearings. they were talking about the disparity in sentencing for cocaine and crack cocaine. >> sure. okay. >> senator jeff sessions didn't quite phrase it right. listen.

>> senator leahy and i in talking during these hearings we're going to do that crack cocaine thing that you and i have talked about before, we've got to -- >> thank you, senator. i appreciate it. >> i want to restate that. >> let me correct the record. >> please rephrase it, senator. please rephrase. >> i misspoke. >> we're going to do that crack cocaine thing. >> why not? sort of like some of her comments if you just encapsulate exactly what was -- the sound bite. >> senator sessions was nomin e nominated for the federal bench and didn't clear the ball. >> doing crack cocaine. >> well, i -- you know. >> it's two minutes past the top of the hour. peggy noonan at the table as well. she has some interesting writing she's put forward. i can't wait to read it. and a description of mike barnicle in -- yeah, the sotomayor hearings -- i thought it was mike. it was about the hearings. unsatisfying and relatively illuminating. >> oh, my gosh.

it's about the hearings. i'm sorry. >> did you do the smoking thing yesterday? >> now let's go to our top stories beginning with breaking news out of southeast asia. a four-year low on terror attacks ended this morning with the bombings on a pair of luxury hotels in jakarta. the near simultaneous explosions left eight people dead and dozens more injured. devices were found and defused. former president rafsanjani is speaking out about the country's unrest. in friday prayers to thousands of reform supporters rafsanjani called on the country's clerical leadership to release opposition protesters arrested in the post election crackdown. meanwhile, witnesses in iran say police have detained at least 15 people during a new flare-up of unrest outside tehran university. we have cell phone video showing

that just in to msnbc. pope benedict xvi is recovering from a fractured wrist after slipping and falling this morning. the fall happened during the pontiff's vacation in the alps. according to the vatican, there is no cause for concern about the 82-year-old's health. judge sonia sotomayor appears to be a lock for the supreme court after withstanding days of grilling with no major gaffes. on thursday the senate panel heard from two new haven firefighters whose reverse discrimination lawsuit became central to the hearings. >> do you have any reason to think that judge sotomayor acted in anything other than good faith in trying to reach a fair decision in the case? >> that's beyond my legal expertise. i'm not an attorney or a legal scholar. i simply welcome an invitation by the united states senate to come here today -- because this is our first time we've got tone testify about our story. so i can't comment on.

>> although her ruling was later overturned by the high court, sotomayor will likely be confirmed before the senate's august break. president obama is calling on the nation's black community to seize their own destiny while at the same time acknowledging that racial prejudice still persists today. in a speech honoring the naacp's 100th convention, president obama made his most direct appeal to parents. >> we have to accept our responsibility to help our kids learn. that means putting away the xbox. putting our kids to bed at a reasonable hour, attending those parent/teacher conferences and read to go our children and helping them with their homework. >> and as lawmakers debate a sweeping plan for reform to health care, the director of the congressional budget office is warning the effort will only

drive the nation further into debt. let's read the quote here. he says this. in the legislation that has been reported, we do not see the sort of fundamental changes that would be necessary to reduce the trajectory of federal health spending by a significant amount and on the contrary the legislation significantly expands the federal responsibility for health care costs. here with us now peggy noonan from "the wall street journal." we have a piece from what you've writt written. we'll get to that in a minute on the hearings from wallstreetjournal.com. the front page much of the wa"tl street journal" today and "the washington post," it seems like this plan could even now run into some trouble with democrats given the latest information, could it not? >> absolutely. i think the cbo report gives intellectual cover to those who were inclined to have doubts anyway. >> right. >> i think it's pretty

devastating because it's pretty clear. the congress' own budget office is saying this is going to have a difficult new health care plan, one passed by the house, is going to have a very bad effect on the american economy at a time that the american economy is already vulnerable. and to i just sense a public sense out there that there are two problems, one is that everybody knows it's 1,000-page bill and nobody knows what's in it and they assume it's complications and strange stuff, stuff they haven't been told about. the other is that i was thinking this the other day, huge entitlements passed by congress in the past. >> right. >> social security, welfare. they were kind of clear social security was clear, you know what, you're going to pay into the system each week through the payroll and at the end when you're retired and old and vulnerable you're going to get a

regular check so you won't wind up in the poor house. everybody kind of understands that. one of the problems with health care is nobody understands the entire system. nobody truly understands what's wrong except it drives everybody crazy in different ways and nobody understands how the government is going to make this better. >> okay. >> so i think it is a difficult thing especially at this time. >> well, and you talked about this public sense out there, maybe a resistance to just spending and trusting. and what i feel like i'm seeing, and correct me if i'm wrong, mike or peggy, more screaming headlines about cbo analysis. there were stories about the white house projections on the budget and on the stimulus. i felt like it was more lower down in the articles and now we have headlines saying the cbo says this. the cbo is saying that the white house perhaps could be off on their numbers. am i wrong or is it perhaps a

response -- >> it's really come forward. look, an added complication here is that everybody -- every person in america knows we're in some weird, bad economic thing. i don't think people think it's going to get better tomorrow no matter what the government says or politicians say. they think we're in this bad thing. is this the time to take a huge leap into a new entitlement that we all know is going to cost a lot of money whatever the number is, $1.3 trillion or whatever, and it's something that you can't turn around. in other words, once you pass this thing, once you have it, baby, you are there. we're going to have it for 50 years. >> one of the things that the congressional budget office testimony yesterday does is give enormous political cover to moderate democrats in the house and the senate to tell the president let's slow down and take a look at this.

the other thing it does out in the country, if you look at one of the problems with health care legislation, the vast majority of people in this country i would strongly suspect, like the health care plan that they have. they might think it's too expensive. they might think health care is too expensive. that's all true. they like the health care plan they have. they're fearful they'll lose their right to go to a doctor of their choice once the government gets involved in the health plan and the third element that you have overseeing all of this is that most people, i think, are out there thinking to themselves the biggest problem we have as a nation right now is the economy and the biggest issue is jobs, jobs be, and jobs. let's take care of the unemployment in this country. let's lower it. >> absolutely. >> let's get the economy on a fast track and a straight track and do health care down the road. >> and that is a full-time job -- >> absolutely. >> turning the economy around. i don't know where obama goes

with this now. i don't know how it works for him. i don't know why he wants forward with this. i know he promised it during the campaign but during the campaign he didn't know he'd be neck deep in an economic crisis. >> you've worked in the white house. one thing that is inexplicable to me is just a witness to history sitting here, why not just settle on taking care of those who are uninsured in this country, these 43 million or 47 million. why not get that done right now and leave the rest for down the road? >> i wonder if the answer isn't just ideology. ideologically we feel we must do this big health care thing. we've been talking about it for 40 years, therefore, it must be done now. >> all right. we have john harwood with us. john, do you want to chime in? it does seem the president has set this as a make or break thing almost from the beginning of his presidency and i don't know how he turns back from it and slows it down. >> i don't think he's going to turn back from it, mika.

i think this does, though, as peggy and mike were saying, strengthen those who want to change what he's talk iing abou. one other thing on the table which is very difficult and it's something that is emblematic of why this is such a hard issue. the truth is that nobody really knows how to restrain health care costs over the long term because the system we've developed and the fact the american people want health care. here is how you reduce health care. you could tell barack obama's grandmother who was dying of cancer last year that she could not have the hip replacement she got a few weeks before she died. the president himself has talked about this. who is going to make that call? who is going to say you can't relieve the pain of his grandmother and siv $10,000 or whatever that costs. that's where the issue gets tough and why cost control is hard in the long run. who is going to ration care? the administration is hoping

this advisory commission could somehow do that but we don't really know if it's going to work. >> that's a compelling way to ut it. >> john, i agree with you totally but i think people are answering the question who is going to ration care this way? the government. the people who brought you the dmv, the people who brought you the post office. >> good lord. >> the people who brought you the early years of the iraq war. do you think a government far away is going to make the right decisions about you? and is it famous for its competence? >> you're pointing exactly to one of the vulnerabilities of the political argument. on the other hand, the american people -- mike says why don't you just cover the uninsured. if that's what you did, you would only be expanding costs to the federal government because the federal government would have to step in, provide subsidies and do that. so obama has a larger admission if you do comprehensive health

care reform the right way and we're not there yet in terms of the right way, then you build a stronger economic foundation. you can take care of the uninsured and do something about costs but the cost thing, there's no question, is the hardest element of the whole issue. >> and that gets to max baucus' taxing the health benefits plan. >> his argument whether or not democrats can face down the labor unions on that issue who don't want to tax health care benefits wlshgs they can face down the american people who have seen advertisements saying, oh, boy, you know, barack obama ran ads against john mccain in the campaign saying he wants to raise taxes on your health care benefits. that may be one of the most useful things that the government could actually do. >> yeah. >> all right. we're going to have to leave it there for now. we're going to get to your piece later on the sotomayor hearings, unsatisfying and relatively illuminating. john harwood, thanks a lot. peggy, stay with us. coming up this hour, we have the

moderator of "meet the press" david gregory. also editor of "the new york times" book review and a week in review sam tanenhaus. steny hoyer will join us and give us his take on the health reform bill and how it will weaken the economy. plus, what's making news out of the white house this morning from savannah guthrie. mom vo: i can't do his history report for him. mom vo: my job is to give him everything he needs to succeed. mom: that's why i go to walmart. vo: find all the brands those other stores have but for low walmart prices. vo: like dell, hp and toshiba. save money. live better. walmart.

has the fastest hands boxing has ever seen. so i've come to this ring to see who's faster... on the internet. i'll be using the 3g at&t laptopconnect card. he won't. so i can browse the web faster, email business plans faster. all on the go. i'm bill kurtis and i'm faster than floyd mayweather. (announcer) switch to the nation's fastest 3g network and get the at&t laptopconnect card for free. [ thud ] [ woman sighs ] [ horn honks ] [ sigh ] a lot goes through your mind after an accident.

but with liberty mutual, insurance issues won't, because we offer unlimited rental coverage, new car replacement, and accident forgiveness to help ease your mind. and that's our policy.

no one has written your destiny for you. your destiny is in your hands. you cannot forget that. that's what we have to teach all of our children. no excuses. >> also no excuses for reading

peggy noonan's column and not -- especially when she describes mike barnicle not reading it exactly right. the sotomayor -- mike barnicle, unsatisfying and relatively unilluminating. >> that's what i thought. >> do you feel better now? >> because illuminating doesn't describe mike. >> i know. exactly. sorry, peggy. 19 minutes past the hour. president obama at the naacp convention in honor of the organization's 100-year anniversary, did you see that? did you see that? that was good. >> i read about it. i didn't see it until just now. >> it was pretty amazing. here now with the latest and what's on tap at the white house today, savannah guthrie. savannah, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, mika. >> first of all, really good reaction across the board, it seems, to the president's speech before the naacp. do i have that right? >> reporter: yeah, i mean, the crowd was really into it and so

0 was the president, by the way. we heard him firing up the rhetoric and sounding like the old candidate we used to hear on the campaign trail really warming to the task. he spoke last year before the naacp and he said if you work for me, i'm going to come back here on the 100th anniversary and sure enough he did. it was a speech that was very personal. he talked a lot about his own tasks, ad-libbing a little bit, talking about when he drives through harlem or the tough streets in chicago and sees people on the street corner, he says there but for the grace of god go i. he of course laid out his policy agenda but also indicated that he understands what the naacp's agenda is, too. he talked about the history of discrimination, the legacy of jim crowe, inequalities in this country but he also had a call to action, a call to the black community to take responsibility for itself saying no excuses and the crowd really seemed to warmly embrace the president. >> all right. then we have the other headline this morning out of "the washington post" about the

health care proposal and the impact it would have on the economy down the road and the fact that the cbo was saying the effort will only drive the nation further into debt. how is the white house responding to this? this is a pretty big slam on that bill that congress is looking at. >> reporter: the congressional budget office widely respected as independent has been a thorn in the side of democrats trying to get health care reform done and, remember, there was an early version of the senate bill that the cbo scored as being expensive and not insuring everybody. and then yesterday saying not only will it not control health care costs but the proposals he's seen on the hill but will increase costs. i'm sure you remember many times the president has said if a bill does not control health care costs i will not sign it so this is a very important issue. i can tell you what democrats on the hill, democratic leaders as well as aides here at the white house say. they think it's a little early for cbo to be making this assessment. they say that they haven't looked at all of the bills closely. they also say, look, the senate

finance committee is not even done yet. that's where how to pay for it will come in. the other thing democrats will mention is some of the things they want to do to control health care costs like prevention, wellness, aren't scorable which is speak for this congressional budget office can't take those into account so you're not really getting a full picture of the savings. needless to say these headlines are terrible at a key moment. >> savannah, why don't you stick around. here with us now from capitol hill we have democratic representative from maryland and house majority leader congressman steny hoyer. thanks very much, congressman, for joining us this morning. >> good morning. good to be with you. >> tagging right off what savannah was talking about and the criticism cbo hasn't looked at this bill closely enough, have you read the whole bill and is it in jeopardy now given these headlines? >> well, let me say that i think the headlines today and the cbo's observations certainly are critically important for us to look at. one of the main objectives of this legislation is to bring

health care costs down. not only for individuals and families, which i think it will do, but also for governments. the president has said the present cost curve is not sustainable. we have to bring it down. we have to look carefully at cbo's analysis and make such adjustments as are necessary to accomplish that objective. the bottom line is both senator mccain and senator obama both said health care reform was essential. both proposed their plan and we are proceeding to affect health care reform that the american public wants. we need to have affordable, quality health care accessible to all americans. that's what our objective is. >> mike barnicle, jump in. making adjustments to the bill could be perceived as also watering it down. >> congressman, if i went out this morning into the heart of prince georges county, which is the heart of your congressional district, and i talked to the first ten people i met, do you figure they would tell me the thing most on their minds was

health care reform or jobs, jobs, and jobs? >> i think jobs, jobs, and jobs would be their major concern. even more so in other parts of the country. we're relatively stable vis-a-vis other parts of the country. the economy is on everyone's mind and is our principle objective. as well, as you know, the president said in his campaign handily elected, that health care reform was a major objective and now i think it's his priority overarching is the effort to get the economy moving again, get jobs being created, get people off the unemployment roles but make sure people have access to affordable health care. we need to do both. in the long run that will positively affect our economy. we have to effect that reform in a way that does that, accomplishes that objective and bring costs down.

i think that's going to be of paramount consideration as we go forward. >> savannah, jump in. savannah guthrie, go ahead. >> reporter: sorry. congressman, i have a question about how to pay for this. obviously that's a huge issue. the president has set up a proposal that would raise, i think, $300 billion or so by limiting how much wealthy taxpayers can deduct on charitable deductions. i wonder why that was rejected so quickly and yet this notion about taxing health care b benefits seems to have more resonance with moderate democrats and republicans. can you explain why one is more palatable than the other? >> well, they are always controversial, as you know. buying things is easy. paying for them is tough. i have to support both the pr proposal the president sent down in terms of capping that 28% deduction and i also think it is good tax policy and good health policy to limit deductions on

employer health care benefits. that clearly is not supported either by the majority of congress or by the majority of the american people. >> all right. >> those being discussed, however, i think are viable and will be debated. i think the ways and means committee acted last night. i think that is one alternative that is acceptable. >> peggy noonan? >> congressman hoyer -- >> can i add this? the president also suggested and we are pursuing very substantial efforts to cut out waste, fraud and abuse in the present system and to effect efficiencies in medicare and medicaid to save over half a trillion dollars. >> peggy? >> let me ask, congressman hoyer, peggy noonan here -- >> hi, be peggy. >> good morning. is there any sense, congressman privately expressed among democrats in the congress, the house and the senate, that they would have actually quietly

preferred it if the president had decided in the past few months to focus solely on the economy, economic bills, economic issues, winning over the public on his economic stand and not introducing a brand-new scheme called health care? is that ever privately expressed? is there any sense of that up there? >> with all due respect, there's no brand-new scheme here on health care. as you know for six decades presidents have been trying to effect health care reform to make sure all americans had access to health care, so this is not new. in fact, peggy, as you know and as i've said, both senator mccain and senator obama throughout last year's campaign talked about the necessity for health care reform so this is nothing new. the overarching objective we have is stabilizing the economy and bringing it back. we inherited the worst economy that we've seen in 5 years when president obama took office. we're struggling to get that economy moving. we've taken decisive action.

but part of that is also redeeming the campaign promise and using the momentum. as you know presidents in their first few months want to use the momentum of the election to accomplish their campaign promise objectives. this is what the president is doing. that's what we're doing. >> okay. congressman hoyer, thank you very much. savannah guthrie, thank you as well. peggy, coming up, i want to show you this ad being put out by the house republican conference about the effect of the stimulus or lack thereof, playing into the public sense you were talking about earlier. up next, david gregory.

i run my own business. it's tough. some days this place gets a little out of control. getting clients in the door and keeping them off the floor, it is a little stressful. announcer: introducing nature made heart and stress defense fish oil. all the benefits of fish oil with super strength omega-3 epa, which may protect your heart against some of the risks of stress caused by mood. hey, life's an adventure, right? announcer: learn more about new heart

and stress defense fish oil at naturemade.com. nature made. fuel your greatness. the president knows and i know the status quo is not acceptable. it's totally inacceptable and it's completely unsustainable. even if we wanted to keep this the way we have, we can't do it financially. we're going to go bankrupt as a nation. people look at me and say, what are you talking about? you're telling us we have to go spend money to keep from going bankrupt? the answer is, yes, that's what i'm telling you.

>> i always tell my husband you have to spend money to make money before i go shopping. joe biden before the aarp. here with us now the moderator of "meet the press," david gregory. good morning. >> good morning, all. >> so we just heard from joe biden. the republican conference has put out an ad criticizing the effects of the stimulus and the potential of more spending which biden thinks we need. take a look at that. >> the stimulus package is working exactly as we anticipated, working exactly as we anticipated. as i made clear at the time it was passed, the recovery act was not designed to work in four months. immediately, ahead of schedule, right now, not designed to work in four months.

>> that would be the question, where are the jobs? david gregory, are republicans playing into, to steal peggy's words, maybe a public sense of concern about all this spedding? >> why he. well, there certainly is a lot of concern about the spending and the reason that an ad like that is so important right now is because of its application to the health care debate. the bottom line is there's a law you could attack tactically about how the white house has approached the economy, the stimulus, the selling of both those things, their prescription to make the economy better. the reality is what will tell the story. either unemployment goes down as one white house adviser said to me recently or not 0. and if it doesn't go down it doesn't matter whether they've had good weeks or bad weeks. it's going to be all bad. if it does come back, if the economy comes back, then all of this really won't matter. what matters now about the question of whether the stimulus is working or the president has lived up to his promises is that there is so much concern about health care spending. a trillion dollar massive overhaul. is it going to work? how are we going to pay for it right now?

can the vice president be believed that in order to head off these costs down the road we have to spend money we don't appear to have right now? remember, the central claim in sell health care is that by a massive overhaul you could contain these exploding health care costs and yesterday, as you've referenced before, the umpire from the head of the congressional budget office who is an independent arbiter of costs for these plans saying, no, later on, down the road, the costs are only going to go up. you're not achieving the savings down the road. that undermines a central claim that the president has made. it's emboldened not only republicans but those democrats, those moderate democrats the president is working hard now who are in the senate, who are not prepared to sign on to this legislation. >> and certainly these headlines could lead to some problems with those democrats and this bill. peggy? >> i think -- david, good morning to you. what do you think? some cliches last a really long time and become cliches because there is a simple truth in them

and i was thinking as i was just seeing that rnc, i think it is, ad, that what we're all going back to is 1992 and it's the economy, stupid. that's what we're sort of all saying. >> in a big way. >> put all of this other stuff aside. it's the economy that we've got to focus on. jobs, jobs, jobs, as we say, but also things like making the banks secure. so it's a funny moment. we're recapitulating. >> that's exactly right and this is a critical moment and it's a critical test. early in his presidency just how much political clout he has, the president, who has tried to learn a lot from the mistakes that bill clinton made in trying to get health care reform through in 1993, he has not dictated the terms of the health care bill and that's in hopes of getting someone in the congress to agree to. it's not a pretty sight to watch here down to the end and he could have easily pulled this thing out as he could watch it go under.

that's just where we are now. nobody actually knows. but we know how high stakes this is because if it does go down, if he doesn't achieve it, it has a cascading effect very negative on the rest of what he wants to accomplish. if he gets it, the upside is huge. it's a very difficult environment in which to work. we do have to remember this is still a president with enormous popularity with a lot of americans who have faith in his overall approach to fixing the economy. he's also facing an opposition that is not completely organized, that has fallen apart in many ways in the republican party. so he's got a lot going for him here but he's facing the head winds now of just, i think, a sense in the country that the economy has not gotten better, that people are worried about fundamental things -- jobs and their houses and for all the talk about what this recession is, people don't always understand what a credit driven recession is and how we're going to pull out of that. the essential issue is jobs. that's what people are focused on which is why, i think, the administration is vulnerable to

questions about the deficit. >> but i think people want to believe the people in charge do understand how to fix the problem and i wonder, mike barnicle, if they're losing a little bit of faith given some of the changes we're seeing with the health care bill especially and the projection. >> i think probably fear is more on the front burner for most people than faith. they're fearful of the economic future of this country but, david, as you know better than most, i am frighteningly shallow when it comes to discussing these weighty topics. >> illuminating. >> the phrase of the moment out of washington, the phrase of the moment being spending curve and bending it downward in terms of the cost of health care costs, one of the proposals that's been on the table and off the table is this element of taxing health care benefits and some powerful democrats in the senate are in favor of it. baucus seems to be one of them. is this white house so bound and

determined to go a route away from like taxing health care benefits that they would risk being handcuffed as prisoners of their own ideology rather than as being caretakers of something sensible and something moderate that might get done? >> i think that's an essential question and i think that -- and chairman baucus has complained about the president's position on this. that the president didn't want to raise taxes on benefits that you get from your employer because right now they're not taxed. you don't put any taxes on them. and then he indicated he might be open to it but is opposed to it. i think at the end it gets close to getting these bills, i think the white house would be open to that. i think the biggest problem with it they open themselves up to the charge that they're going to be taxing -- you're going to affect a tax increase on people making less than $250,000 a year which is what the president vowed he would not do. but to the overall point there

are certain principles they have. everything else is negotiable. i think they're negotiating and i think they will compromise quite a bit in order to get these bills by the august recess. >> all right. david gregory, great perspective. who's on "meet the press" this week, by the way? >> we're going to be right on top of this. secretary of health and human services katherine sebelius, the point person now for the administration on this and the leader of the republicans in the senate, mitch mcconnell as well. >> all right. we'll be watching. david gregory, moderator of "meet the press" thank you very much. >> thank you, guys. up next a new high-tech engine to answer detroit's problems. we'll talk to phil lebeau about the future of the auto industry. also, editor of "the new york times" book review and week in review sam tanenhaus. naing onon ud r.

weotototatatininci on us cars for everybody anont cfidedence ininin o. caususususlendnds s ve a a a

t tcks. ququq n .

welcome back to "morning joe." that's a wonderful live picture on a friday morning of new york city. ford is set to unveil its new fuel efficient eco-boost engine but will americans be willing to pay for it? with more on that cnbc's phil lebeau who has the best live shot in the business. let's see him today live from boulder, colorado. >> what a man. >> what on god's green earth are you doing? >> i'm king of the world. >> reporter: good morning from the rocky mountains. >> love it, phil. >> reporter: you cannot beat it. listen, guys, we're talking about fuel economy in the auto industry. the big debate is how much are people willing to pay? people are focused on hybrids but take an engine and soup it up. this is the new eco-boost engine in here gives you 20% better fuel economy, 15% lower emissions, but it's going to come at a cost, another $3,000.

we had a chance to test it out yesterday. took it for a spin up in the rocky mountains here. great performance but at the end of the day the question comes down to how much are people willing to pay for a turbocharged engine? now ford is going to charge another $3,000 for the eco-boost engine. they believe this is where the future lives when it comes to fuel economy. they're still going to make hybrids, electric car development is down the road. but most in the industry are saying you've got to take the current engine and you've got to soup it up and that's going to cost people money. would you pay another $3,000 for better fuel economy? >> phil, i would if the american car manufacturers get the concept of cup holders. do they get the interior cup holder concept? >> mike, you're missing the point here as usual. >> reporter: it always comes back to the cup holders, doesn't it? >> it always does. that seems like a lot of money in this economy. >> reporter: it does but ford

believes it will sell 1.3 million eco-boost engines -- engines, they say -- by 2014. so they are betting on this and they believe people are willing to pay that extra money but whether it's with hybrids or turbo charged engines, whatever the result is, you're going to have to pay more for better fuel economy. there's no way around it. you're not get to get it by taking the standard engine and tweaking it. you're going to have to pay more in some fashion. how much more and how are you going to do that? >> all right. phil lebeau, didn't that look like a commercial for phil lebeau ford? come on down. >> got the name for it, too. >> reporter: name the price, i'll get you in there. >> thanks so much, phil, from boulder, colorado. when we come back, the editor of "the new york times" book review and week review. mom vo: i can't do his history report for him.

mom vo: my job is to give him everything he needs to succeed. mom: that's why i go to walmart. vo: find all the brands those other stores have but for low walmart prices. vo: like dell, hp and toshiba. save money. live better. walmart. has the fastest serve in the history of professional tennis. so i've come to this court to challenge his speed. ...on the internet. i'll be using the 3g at&t laptopconnect card. he won't. so i can book travel plans faster, check my account balances faster. all on the go. i'm bill kurtis and i'm faster than andy roddick. (announcer) "switch to the nations fastest 3g network" "and get the at&t laptopconnect card for free".

(announcer) "switch to the nations fastest 3g network" to stand behind all who serve. ♪ to deliver the technologies... vital to freedom. ♪ to help carry hope to those in need. ♪ around the globe, the people of boeing... are working together -- for what matters most. that's why we're here. ♪ it was tough news to hear. everything changed. i didn't know what to do.

right about then, our doctor mentioned the exelon patch. he said it releases medicine continuously for 24 hours. he said it could help with her cognition which includes things like memory, reasoning, communicating and understanding. (announcer) the most common side effects of exelon patch are nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. the likelihood and severity of these side effects may increase as the dose increases. patients may experience loss of appetite or weight. patients who weigh less than 110 pounds may experience more side effects. people at risk for stomach ulcers or who take certain other medicine should talk to their doctor because serious stomach problems, such as bleeding may worsen. mom's diagnosis was hard to hear, but there's something i can do. (announcer) visit exelonpatch.com for free caregiving resources.

there are reports john mccain has more than a million

followers on twitter. a million followers on twitter. and apparently every single one of the tweets says the nurse is stealing from me. >> that's terrible. barnicle? >> that's funny. >> are you done? >> yeah. >> do you want me to play it again for you? >> that was funny. >> i will play it later. it's like having a child, it is, or many children, if you are on "morning joe." and here with us now editor of the "new york times," sam tanenhaus joins us once again. >> hey, you are lady donna with

all of us gathered around you. >> we have been sent things in the mail that are very disturbing. sam, let's start with week in review. >> yeah, and there was a book on the clarence thomas and annetta hill book, but even more important is the first book which is called "where they are now" and it's about the first group of women graduating from law school, harvard law school, and what became of them. she saw the connection between the sotomayor hearing and the annetta hill hearing, and you may not think about that. a lot of the cast is the same in slightly different roles. and arlen specter who was tough

on hills, and he was a pussycat with sonia sotomayor. and jill wrote about the drama behind the no drama we saw this week. the drama happened behind the screen where we could not see it. for instance, one of the big preparers of sonia sotomayor was a woman named cynthia morgan, and she worked for biden, joe biden. and it was joe biden that blew the hearing with cynthia hill. we are seeing the charged up professionalized version of the

committee hearing run by democrats. >> yeah, that's going to be fascinating. >> we sit here and think we made all this progress, and an enormous amount of progress has been made, but you could be the biggest massagist in the world, but then that question would be never be asked of a man about a temperament on issues that were connected. >> with all the things teddy kennedy said he was going to do,

and he was saying you are a mad man, which is a question of temperament. in fairness for lindsay graham, there was a piece months back quoting other judges and people that worked in the courtroom with sotomayor saying that she is tough and a little bit bullying. so just as a matter of context, whether or not the question was phrased in the right way. >> and that was driven by jeffrey rosen who talked mainly to clerks said in a later piece he had not seen most of her hearings, and then there was a follow-up saying the justice she most resembles is scalia. and the competition is very different. that was about idealogy. the mistake that he made -- >> it was more than idealogy, sam.

when you are saying the sort of things that teddy kennedy said, the bob boerks in america, they will be talking about people being killed in illegal abortions, and it went from politics to the very nature and personality and temperament of the poor guy sitting across from him. it was way over the top. >> borke had a vast record. and clarence thomas got in the same trouble sotomayor did. he published a few things on ideal law. he said those were just my speculative writings. i will be very different when i sit on the bench. this happens all the time. it's the nature of it.

and i admire robert brooke. it's ashame he could not express his ideas without being attacked. that was the last time you heard a justice talk. >> now, let's talk about a shift of profession, he was playing on "saturday night live." >> and sam tanenhaus, it looks like an amazing review this week. >> "age of wonder" on the cover. >> one of the great living

biographers. we are talking about the faith race, and what about the first great balloon flight in the 18th century. that's a great book. >> you don't have a temperament problem, do you? >> what? >> do you have a temperament problem? >> no, i don't. you are watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks.

we are back on. i will have to say peggy's

advice for later. a live shot of los angeles lax for you. san francisco. wow! the sun is coming up in las vegas, i believe. almost. washington, d.c. >> that's where chris is. >> yeah, gambling. >> thank you for the traffic shot in washington. what is that about? okay. new york city. sun coming up. and for barnicle, go home, barnicle, you unilluminating, unsatisfying, and i think you have a temperament problem. >> i will say it to a man. do you have a temperament problem? >> yes, i do. >> you see, a man can say that. and you will probably get a medal for that answer. >> great to have you.

willie geist is with me, and joe scarborough off this morning. two minutes past the top of the hour. and i am mika brzezinski. let's get to the top stories because we have a lot to talk about after that. >> a four year lull in terror tacks ended this morning with bombings on hotels. two suicide bombers care yaed out the attacks leaving dozens dead and a many injured. cell phone video just in to msnbc shows a new flare-up of violence in iran this morning between opposition protestors and government forces. witnesses say 15 people have been detained by police using tear-gas and batons. and it calls on the same day they called on the clerical leadership talked about the post

election crack down. and according to a spokesman, no cause for concern about the pope's health. he slipped and fell in the bathroom. and then sonia sotomayor spend days of grilling. and the panel heard from two new haven firefighters who became central to the hearing. >> do you have any reason to think that judge sotomayor acted in anything other than good faith in trying to reach a fair decision in the case? >> that is beyond my legal expertise. i am not an attorney or a legal scholar. i simply welcome an invitation by the united states senate to come here today. this is the first time we have gotten to testify about our story. i cannot kent on -- >> i love peggy's take on the

hearings in the wall street journal. and then sotomayor's ruling was overturned. sotomayor will likely be confirmed before the senate's august break. lawmakers are reviewing a sweeping plan to reform health care system, a quote. president obama is calling on the black community to seize their own future, obama saved

his appeal here. >> we have to accept the responsibility to help them learn, and that means putting our kids to bed at a reasonable hour. and it means attending parent-teacher conference, and helping them with their homework. >> that's a look at the news. and here with us now, an msnbc political analysts, eugene robinson. your take on the president's speech? part president and part preacher? >> yeah. it was a message that he delivered, and it's not a new one for him to deliver. he talked about self help and personal responsibility, and

parents, turn off your televisions and help your kids with their homework, and that message, he delivered it various times during the campaign, and delivered it again last night. the difference now is he is a president and has a bigger microphone, and at the 100th anniversary at the convention at the naacp is a highly symbolic moment. and he was addressing a room full of people who turn off the tv and help their kids with their homework, and who in every aspect of their lives take personal responsibility, and they have achieved a lot in society. the question is, of course, how does he get that message to the segment of the african-american community and segments of other communities that don't do that.

and that were not necessarily there at the convention last night. >> gene, it's willie. that point i was going to ask you. sometimes while obviously historic, sometimes too much is made about the elevation of barack obama has an african-american man as it relates to the african-american community. his being president is not going to change the fact that people drop out of school or teen pregnancy. do you think we make too much of obama? >> i think it's hard to make too much of the first african-american president being elected in this country given our history with race. and there is something not measurable at this point, but when i have gone into classrooms and gone into communities and lower income communities, and rural communities, and the sense

of pride, accomplishment, and challenge that his presidency presents is there. my question or my observation is that once you created that atmosphere and issued that challenge, there has to be some sort of follow-up, and there has -- that's what i think does not automatically happen. and it's the stick-to-it. he is president of the united states. he has iran to deal with and health care to deal with. he is not going to give the speech every day, but it's a message that needs to be reinformed. >> willie, take us through the rest of it. >> yeah, i want to get to peggy's piece in the "wall street journal" this morning, about the sotomayor.

this is from peggy in today's "wall street journal." she says: >> i can hear you laughing, robinson. >> peggy, i love you for that. >> thank you, the pulitzer prize winner just gave me a compliment. >> and about how slowly she spoke. that reduces the number of words that is required to say. isn't that the aim, to say as

little as possible. >> yeah, and calm and deliberate. >> yeah, if you speak like this you don't have to say much. >> people at home trying to understand you and gain insight to you so they can have a sense to be what the future decisions will be start to go like this, it has a mez raw rising affect. i think the democrats did a bad job of that. i had seen her speak before this, and she was a regular animated normal, interesting person. it does court danger, that's true. we are starting to live in a time where if you say something clearly and with clarity, you are courting trouble. and it's much safer for people

in public life to have a horrible confused syntax where nobody understands what you are saying. >> you or i could not be confirmed for the supreme court, and we should wear that as a compliment. >> in terms of boardam, there were no hearings for -- tv created the hearings. tv has given the senators one more opportunity to get on tv, and badger a witness or whatever they want to do. >> yeah, that's true. and tv and the confirmation process taught an entire generation of young rising legal scholars that they cannot say anything interesting about the law in any decision, in any argument, because it will come back. if you take it out of context,

it will be used against them and a sound byte that hangs them by the neck. >> yeah, and it's settled law. >> what does that mean? >> that means a case is settled when it's settled accept if it gets unsettled, it may be a settled case, but it's a unsettled type much case. it was all circular. >> i love her. >> and i listened, wanting to learn and i listened with sympathy for judge sotomayor, who i cannot help but like. i love her story. what an american story. a beautiful mother with the poignant beautiful face sitting there. >> i would only suggest that our expectations were a little high going into this. i think we could have predicted most of the scenario, that she would not say anything controversial, that republicans could frankly posture and speak

to the primary opponents in the next election like guns and abortion, and not speak to her. and this is the way it is. is it a good system? no. does it tell anything about the new supreme court justice? no, it does not. that's the way we do this now for some unearthly reason. >> was i hoping for too much? >> you were. you set yourself up for a fall. gene, hold on for a second. we have to get to health care before we go to break. willie, the cbo? >> yeah, the new report says basically the plan will not control cost, and it will continue to add to our national deficit. how big of a problem is this for the white house? >> i would -- to quote senator

tom koeb rin in a non-controversial situation, the white house has explaining to do. and these are inconvenient numbers. the white house i think is going to have to try and explain why they are looking at the numbers in a wrong way. the fact is that the white house, i think, and many democrats and i see health care as a first -- a moral issue, a responsibility of the nation that it's not fulfilling, and it's going to cost money, and people ought to look for ways to make it cost as little as possible. and it being presented as in and of itself a cost saver, and it doesn't seem to be washing with the cpo. >> yeah, i think that's the thing we need to look into. >> yeah, and gene just

suggested, the white house's biggest problem might be a marketing problem. maybe they should have called it health care cost reduction reform, and get it in the minds of more people in this country that one of the ultimate objectives of this particular piece of legislation is not only to cover the moral obligation and to cover the uninsured in america, but to reduce the cost for all the unnecessary -- we were talking earlier about rationing health care. all of the unnecessary procedures that are done each and every day in hospitals across the country that dive up health costs. >> can i ask a question? when i was a kid growing up, we never talked about health care. why did america become obsessed with health care the past 20 years or so? is there an easy answer to that? >> i don't think so. >> nobody talked about it. i don't remember anybody having health care insurance when i was a kid. >> the doctor made house calls

when we grew up. >> we did not go to doctors, to tell you the truth. what i mean is that it was not an obsession. one's physical health was not an obsession in america 40 years ago. >> peggy, it has become a source of political failure that has been repeated on both sides. it has been set up by this administration for good or for bad as almost, like, the defining goal of this -- whatever, the first year in office. if they don't indict, people think the president will be a loser if he don't get it done. >> yeah, i agree. >> and one answer to this unanswerable question might be the fact of think of the things that we are all aware of today that we were totally aware of when you and i were growing up. we were unaware of automobiles when we were growing up. you were unaware that people were poor. you might have been poor yourself but you always had

food. you were unaware of people getting a divorce, and unaware of all sorts of things -- >> yeah, it was fabulously boring. how does that get to health care? now we are aware of mri machines and cat scans? >> yeah. yeah. >> those didn't exist, and if you got hurt, they could put the stuff if you got stuck, the stuff that did sting or the stuff that didn't sting, and if you got an infection or something, they gave you pen sillen. and frankly the ability to extend life, it was not there the way it is now. >> it has become an obsession to

the administration and democrats and they have issues as eugene said, the white house has explaining to do. my question is didn't they have explaining to do on the stimulus? didn't they have explaining to do on the budget? weren't there projections that raised the same issues, and now it's a screaming headline? i am just wondering. coming up, gabriel sherman, talking about election violations. details ahead on that. also, we will talk to an actress alrew woodard. you are watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks.

we know why we're here. to design the future of flight, inside and out. to build tomorrow's technology in amazing ways. and reshape the science of aerospace... forever. around the globe, the people of boeing... are working together -- for the dreams of generations to come. that's why we're here.

they work to make a difference. to make an impact. to improve the lives of others. they're people in positions of great power. the power to effect change. for them, career advancement is a goal. but not the only goal. for them, it's not about the money. although money is always nice. it's not about a corner office. it's about a greater good. there's a school for people like this. an online university where advanced degrees advance the quality of life. walden university.

welcome back to "morning joe." it's a beautiful day here in new york city. looking out at the plaza there. we have a great new york story to tell you right now. and charles kurshner. his son, a young man barely out of college stepped up to clear the family name, and channel their ambition. and you are 25 years old, and jared laid the check on the cable.

gabe, good could have you with us. who is jared, and who is his father and why is this a compelling story? >> jared is the oldest of four children of charlie, a real estate dynasty. in 2004, he got into a whole legal mess. and jared is now carrying on the ambition for his father in manhattan, and reinventing the game as a new york dynasty. >> what did his father do? what is the big problem? >> his father basically got into political contribution fraud. he was using company money to donate the political candidates. but the amazing twist is that he retaliated against a brother-in-law by hiring a prostitute to seduce the brother-in-law, while he sent

the tape to his sister. >> yeah, this is a good story. >> do we have the tape available. >> unfortunately not, the fbi has it. >> now he is in jail? >> no, charlie spent 16 months in prison, he is out of prison and works closely with jared, and jared is the public face of the company in trying to take the company forward. >> one of the interesting things about the piece that i found fascinating is the continuing strong bond, strong relationship between father and son. >> yeah, it was amazing, their relationship. >> the son, when charlie the father is in federal prison, the son flies every weekend downtown shall. >> yeah, to alabama. and jared would fly down to alabama and spend time with charlie. charlie said the hardest time is he would have 30 minutes a week on the phone.

he would allocate time, and call this child for two minutes, and jared for five minutes, and the family bond is what got them through this period. >> when you are interviewing jared over in the building that they own right over here on fifth avenue, the father comes in and says, you know, don't kill my son because of the crimes that i have committed. i found that -- >> yeah, it was touching. >> yeah. >> jared is a man about town. he is in page six today. when you are 25 years old, and you buy a newspaper, you think the dad got you money. is he maken seriously as the man that runs the "new york observer." >> yeah, he does run the paper. and jared used the paper to define himself in new york. his paper is his own way to become jarid kushner dine stayn.

>> well, can he make money? >> well, it has always lost money, and he is trying to turn it into a business. >> he says we reached the bottom for newspapers. what makes him so optimistic? >> well, somebody with that impression has to be optimistic. >> yeah, the concept of a famous father, and an influential father, must be all foreign to you. >> yeah. >> we will check it out. >> gabe, thank you. coming up, big numbers now. june housing comes in every minute. plus, the weekend review when

"morning joe" continues. >> yeah, it will be good. undefeated professional boxer floyd "money" mayweather

has the fastest hands boxing has ever seen. so i've come to this ring to see who's faster...

on the internet. i'll be using the 3g at&t laptopconnect card. he won't. so i can browse the web faster, email business plans faster. all on the go. i'm bill kurtis and i'm faster than floyd mayweather. (announcer) switch to the nation's fastest 3g network and get the at&t laptopconnect card for free. accidents can happen, but with liberty mutual's accident forgiveness, an accident won't cause your price to go up when you renew. if you qualify, you could save an average of $345. and if an accident totals your new car within the first year, our new car replacement means we'll give you the money to buy a brand-new car. these are just two of our valuable features available to all qualifying drivers. plus, those who switch to liberty mutual save an average of 20.6% over their prior policy.

because doing the right thing isn't just for responsible drivers. it's for responsible car insurers, too. that's our policy. find out how much you could save. call us directly at...

welcome back to "morning joe." it's just after 8:30 on the east coast. and cell phone video just into msnbc shows a new flare-up of violence in iran this morning between opposition protesters and government forces. 15 people were detained outside tehran university by police using tear-gas and batons. explosions ripped through two hotels killing eight people and wounding at least 50 others. that was in indonesia. the first major terror strike in four years. and pope benedict slipped while vacationing in the alps. and there is no cause for concern about the 82-year-old's health. that's a quick look at the news. next, we will talk with alfre woodard who is talking about

mandela. that's straight ahead on "morning joe." mom vo: i can't do his history report for him. mom vo: my job is to give him everything he needs to succeed. mom: that's why i go to walmart. vo: find all the brands those other stores have but for low walmart prices. vo: like dell, hp and toshiba.

save money. live better. walmart.

welcome back to "morning joe." a lot of serious business to get to today. new numbers on june housing starts coming in right now. plus the quarterly earnings reports. mr. sunshine, mark haines. layout the numbers for us, my friend. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> willie. >> yes, sir. >> he always has to go there? why it is when i come on, she

starts talking? >> it's her show. >> i thought i was supposed to start when i came on. and we have housing numbers, construction of newest homes rose in june to the highest level in seven months. and a sign builders are starting to regain confidence, except we have too many houses already. and the market didn't take that as good news. and we have ge, beating earning estimates however. and they say they did it by cutting costs. they are worried about the revenue side, the income side. and citigroup posted a nice profit today. cit still trying to fend off bankruptcy. and bps -- those are the headlines. the biggies. >> you know, mark. it's always a question for me whether i ought to listen to you

on a friday morning, or just go out and get in my car and drive it straight into a bridge. it's jump ball as to what i should do? >> well, you know, if you cannot man up i would take the bridge approach. >> wow! >> all right. >> he is like nobody else, really. >> life is what it is, if you can't take it, we'll see you. >> mr. haines, what should we read into the citigroup readings, and prank of american earnings as a contrast to what we see earlier from goldman sachs? >> well, bank of america tried to reinvent itself by buying merrill lynch, and they have reinvented themselves. they have done a spectacular job of restoring profitability. and banks on the other hand, they are still carrying around

the moldy debt that doesn't do their books any good. and the banking system is slowly getting back to something resemabling normal. and in the meantime, goldman and jp morgan chase, and they are the loan survivors on wall street and are doing great. the futures are pointing lower. >> offering advice to barnicle, and explaining wall street to us. how great. we have been looking forward to this, haven't we peggy. actress and cofounder, alfre woodard, also author of the book about mandela. what a beautiful top. it's great to meet you. let's talk about -- let's go to the nelson mandela day in the

city. it's tomorrow. you are taking part in a big way. let's talk about the life of mandela, and how it's going to be celebrated tomorrow? >> tomorrow there is a big concert at the music city hall with an incredible lineup. and it's aaretha, and saw leasha -- alicia. there will be a big celebration. and all week we have been celebrating. there is a dinner over at grant central the other night that former president clinton hosted. and that was quite wonderful. we have launched the audio book. >> tell us about that. >> nelson mandela picked all of the folk tales for the book, and we recorded the book. and people came onboard like

whoopi, and hugh jackman. i am naming names that i should not. and helen marion, and everybody. and the voices are very different. we tried to keep it texture, so it's like having those artists in your deny. it's called folk tale for a reason. you have to have some maturity to tell the tales, and things that are passed on. not only do we celebrate and honor nelson mandela with the audio book. it's passing on the tradition for folk tale in the next generation. and it's really fabulous. the best part is, 100% of the proceeds go to our work, the work in south africa, benefiting children whose lives have been

impacted with aids. 100% of the proceeds go to that. not only do you get a fabulous product, but you are actually saving peoples' lives. >> alfre, at 91 years old, there may be people that don't fully understand the importance of the impact, and can you explain that for people? >> i would say he lived under a system that was probably one of the most brutal systems of government in the history of man. it was a rejaem. he was on trial for treesion. he was to be put to death. after the world saw him, they could not put this man to death so he was in prison.

they said he would die there. but 27 years later he was released through the effort of the south african people and international calls for his release. and the study that he gave us, or the demonstration is, i think, we are responsible for the choices that we make. maybe not the situation we are in, but how we respond to a situation, and the whole world got to watch him turn that kind of banishment into a remarkable demonstration of character and will. i think people all around the world have been inspired by him. and once that system fell, that blood would run in the streets. again, because of the kind of reflection that he was able to have on that personally, it made the most peaceful transition from the dark period into hopefully a new democracy. >> it is a new democracy. >> one of the things that i

think is most triumphant and extraordinary about mandela's life, after 27 years in prison, he came out to be a political leader, but he came out without bitterness and hatred and darkness. he came out with good nature and a kind of joy, the kind of joy you need to effectively lead. that is always one of the most effective things about human, and a person, the experience of jail did not kill his soul. >> i don't think he could have survived if he had that kind of vile in him. i don't think that he could have made it. >> 27 years in jail, you have time to build-up that vile. >> yeah, that's the gift and lessons for the ages, not only in terms of political will, but individually, us personally, a demonstration of how we get to choose. we make our choices every day, every minute. >> yeah, wow.

alfre woodard, do you have a website? right now, that audio book is in every bookstore in the country. can you go online. it's number 8 on itunes. people respond to it, and trust me, it's a good time. >> are tickets still available to the concert coming up? >> yes, they are. i think i may have to put off my trip away for the weekend. thank you for coming in. nice to meet you, and come back. >> it's an honor to meet you all. >> wow, thank you very much. >> we'll be right back with willie's week in review. keep it right here on "morning joe." imodium multi-symptom relief

combines two powerful medicines for fast relief of your diarrhea symptoms, so you can get back out there. imodium. get back out there. they work to make a difference.

to make an impact. to improve the lives of others. they're people in positions of great power. the power to effect change. for them, career advancement is a goal. but not the only goal. for them, it's not about the money. although money is always nice. it's not about a corner office. it's about a greater good. there's a school for people like this. an online university where advanced degrees advance the quality of life. walden university. a higher degree. a higher purpose.

it's time for the week in review. it's not the real one. it's the top three stories of the week according to us. we begin with the president separated from his beloved teleprompter. >> to pull our economy -- oh, goodness. >> at number three, the president loses his wing man. >> what will the president do then? >> one of the two teleprompter

screens president obama was using a speech on monday fell from the stands and smashed on the floor. >> goodness. sorry about that guys. >> the commander and chief set an example for all americans when he courageously plowed forward and finished the job with only one teleprompter screen. the next day, president obama travelled to st. louis for major league baseball's all-star game, where he threw out the ceremonial first pitch. it was not the most impressive first pitch ever thrown, but it was better than his bowling. and certainly better than this pitch by mariah carey. and this one by olympian carl

lewis. >> that's one of the worse opening pitches i have ever seen. >> and number two, chasing the olympic dreams. we learned this week appear tae kwon do champion in new zealand is reaching for a little help from his hookers. he needed a creative way to raise money for the training that he hoped will send him to the 2012 summer games in london, so he did what any right-thinking person would do, he opened a brothel and became a pimp. he says he is not a pimp, just the manager of a high-end gentlemen's club. and plus the giant gold medal would look impressive on a live pimp. and the number one story. >> unless you have a complete meltdown, you will be confirmed.

>> this week's hearings focused mainly on the hot button issue of baseball. >> the supreme court justices are much more than umpires calling balls and strikes. >> like an umpire calling balls and strikes. >> no balls and no strikes. >> balls and strikes. >> ball and strikes. >> ball and strikes. >> did you have a chance to watch the all-star game last night? >> as the hearings dragged into thursday, and sotomayor was fitted for her robe, the members of the senate got board and started to call in the baseball greats. >> you have the floor. >> some people said, sotomayor saved baseball. >> and they were also about smoking crack. >> during the hearings, we will do the crack cocaine thing you and i have talked about before. >> what is he talking about? coming up next, what, if

anything did we learn today. in just a few minutes, the "morning meeting" with dylan ratigan. we'll be right back. we know why we're here. to build a new generation of airplanes to connect the world. airplanes that fly cleaner and farther on less fuel. and make nonstop travel possible to more places.

announcer: around the globe, the people of boeing are working together-- to bring us together. that's why we're here.

has the fastest serve in the history of professional tennis. so i've come to this court to challenge his speed. ...on the internet. i'll be using the 3g at&t laptopconnect card. he won't. so i can book travel plans faster, check my account balances faster. all on the go. i'm bill kurtis and i'm faster than andy roddick. (announcer) "switch to the nations fastest 3g network" "and get the at&t laptopconnect card for free".

you are out numbered. and i like it. i like it. time for what we have learned. >> george w.'s dad, what did you learn today? >> mike barnicle leaves when he wants. >> yeah, he walked off like he was confused. >> and i learned peggy was board to tears by the sonia sotomayor hearings? >> yes, my eyes did glaze over. >> what did you